Posted by Somaticide on June 4, 2004, at 13:33:31
In reply to Re: Somatization Disorder, posted by rockymtnhi on June 3, 2004, at 23:39:15
I had been diagnosed YEARS ago with PTSD. I have ben on Prozac for as many years for this. About 2 years ago I suddenly dropped 30 lbs without changing my eating habits. I also had a number of other symptoms as follows:
Diarrhea
Headaches/migraines
Neck pain
Vulvar Burning
Difficulty Urinating/burning
Hives
Persistent rash on the back of my neck
Stabbing pains in my stomach
Nausea
Insomnia
Lower back pain
Severe PMS
Excessive menstral bleeding
Pain in chest/dificulty breathing
TMJ/grinding my teeth while sleeping
Feeling drained/overwhelmed
Right eye watering/turning red
Joint pain in big toes and right ankle
Burning sensation in my mouth
Tinnitis
Feeling of a lump in my throat/difficult to swallow foodThere is probably more, but I also have alot of trouble with my memory :)
My Doctor performed the following tests:
Blood tests (including thyroid)
Abdominal cat scan
Chest x-ray
MRI on back/neck
HIV test
Hepatitis A, B, and CHe also referred me to specialists who performed the following tests:
Allergy tests (including yeast and food)
Endoscopy & biopsy of small intestine
Urinary Cystitis test
Urological exam
Biopsy of vulvarALL tests came back negative (with the exception of Acid Relux Disease). However, my MD, the Urologist, my OBGYN, and a dermatologist all tried to help relieve the urinary/vulvar burning. I was prescribed the following for tis problem:
Antibiotics
Nystatin
Diflucan
Urispas
Clobetasol OintmentBut nothing would relieve the burning. That is when my MD started to explain psyco-somatic illnesses. At first I was mad thinking he was blowing me off because they couldn't find out what was causing my problems. I then talked to my psycologist. He prescribed me Xanax, 1 mg twice a day, then 2 mg at bedtime. After taking my first dose of Xanax, around 20 mins - 1 hour later my urinary/vulvar burning went away completely. I had suffered with this everyday for 1 1/2 years, I was shocked and amazed that Xanax could cure this. But when the Xanax wore off, the burning came back. That is when I decided to go back to my MD to find out more about this psychosomatic stuff. That is when my MD diagnosed me with Somatization Disorder.
The definition of this disorder in a nut shell is that whenever I feel stress, it can be good stress or bad stress, it shows up as physical symptoms. The Xanax not only cleared up my burning, but has also helped ease a number of other symptoms including insomnia.
I worry about the toll this disorder is taking on my husband. We recently down-sized from a large beautiful house to a condo because I don't have the ability to take care of the old house. I have been on SSD For about 7 years now. This is embarrassing for me. I hve tried to go off SSD and start my own buisness 3 times, thinking if I could control my workload and hours I could hanlde it. But each time, my body would just shut down and my health would get worse.
In the past my psychologist has tried anti-convulsants, augmenting the prozac, and other SSRI's, with no avail. The one thing I've learned through it al is that I definitely cannot function withou the prozac, and now I need the Xanax to prevent the burning. I am worried about the Xanax, I know it is addictive. Thanks for your concern!!!!!!! It helps to talk about it.
P.S. Some of my siblings have the same symptoms. My MD says it has a strong hereditary component.
poster:Somaticide
thread:353564
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20040603/msgs/353780.html